


The Day Lena Luthor Died

by DKGwrites



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Suicide, i don't know if there will be more chapters, i have an idea for more but don't have time, i know the title is scary but trust me, if i write more there will eventually be supercorp, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 04:48:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20754581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DKGwrites/pseuds/DKGwrites
Summary: Cars were crashed together in disjointed masses that blocked off passage through the streets.  Water geysered into the night from broken fire hydrants.  Ruined buildings dotted the way as if tornados had set down to deliver God’s careful thumb of destruction.  People ran haphazardly about or wandered aimlessly.  Dogs howled and cats yowled.  It looked like they had a front-row seat to World War III.





	The Day Lena Luthor Died

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea that came to me, and I have an outline for a longer fic and some parts done, but I don’t know if I’ll ever write it. This first chapter has been festering in my WIP pile, but at a friend’s coaxing, I’ve decided to post it. I hope you enjoy this little standalone piece.

Lena was a nineteen-year-old certified genius when she left MIT with her second Master’s Degree in an engineering field. It was the summer, and after a brief internship at Luthor Corp, she planned to return to school and begin on her Doctorate. Actually, her plan involved a summer traveling around Europe, but her mother, Lillian, had put the kibosh on that upon catching the first whiff of it. Apparently, Luthors did not ‘backpack around Europe’ or whatever other unacceptable thing Lena had planned for her summer. No, downtime was for ‘other people’, and Luthors were not ‘other people’ as Lena had been reminded of time and time again. Though a Luthor only in name, that name was enough that her actions reflected on the rest of the family. No matter what Lillian said about Lena in private, behind the youngest Luthor’s back and to her face, public perception was what mattered. That meant Lena would spend her summer interning at the family company, learning the ropes, putting on a good face, and goose-stepping with the rest of the drones (“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Lena.”). Like it or not, and Lena didn’t, her life wasn’t her own. Even Lex, the golden boy, couldn’t dissuade their mother of this.

Her tests finished and her dorm room packed up, Lena decided to head down to Metropolis a day early to surprise her brother. It wasn’t like she had any friends at school, anyway. Though she was finally getting to the age that she wasn’t years younger than everyone else around her, something as frivolous as socializing with her schoolfellows was ‘beneath her’, and the thought that Lillian would let things like Lena being a legal adult or miles away from her mother give Lena even an iota of privacy was laughable. Though several boys had tried (“Hrmmm”) and a few girls (“Hmmmm?”) to breach the walls Lillian had erected around her daughter, none seemed capable of more than an initial assault before falling away from one contrivance or another. No, Lena’s version of a social life was stilted smiles and small talk with the appropriate matches her mother had chosen for her at Luthor dinner parties, so there was no reason for her not to hurry off to spend time with her only real friend, her older brother, Lex.

Lena waited until she had arrived in Metropolis to text Lex that she was in town. Though she knew he might be working still, she wasn’t worried she’d be an inconvenience. Even if he had a dinner meeting with a client, she knew she’d be whisked away and pulled in to be introduced proudly with smiles and be honestly included with remarks of, “Lena’s the ace up my sleeve. She’s the smartest of the Luthors, aren’t you, Ace?” or something of that ilk. When she hadn’t heard back by the time she had checked into the hotel that night, it was surprising. When two hours had passed and dinner time was well upon them, several texts and two phone calls from her to him going unanswered, they’d reached an unheard of situation. Lena ended up ordering room service but picked at it unable to eat more than a few bites. She was stuck in Metropolis, her brother not even dropping her so much as a text, and her mother’s handpicked security stationed in the suite’s living room for her ‘safety’. She was a veritable prisoner in one of the greatest cities in America.

Lena was already tucked into bed for an early evening when the food cart was taken away. Okay, a Lena-sized lump was tucked into Lena’s bed when the food cart was taken away. The cart was outside the elevator when the hotel staff left it to see to a room on a different floor, allowing Lena to crawl out from the curtained underneath and escape into the elevator. She’d left her phone by her bedside to avoid her mother’s tracking, only taking cash and the ATM card for her ‘other account’. Originally a private account she had found about two years after her father’s death, one for which monthly payments kept filtering in but from which withdrawals were no longer made, Lena kept that account active while using most of the money to set up a new one for herself under a new identity. Even as a teen, the pressures of being a Luthor without her father’s insulating presence were becoming overbearing. So, Lena was preparing for the day when she might need to disappear, to run off to Switzerland or someplace with no extradition… not that extradition was her worry. She just needed to avoid her mother.

At this point, the young Luthor had more than enough money secreted away for most people to live. It was an amount that Lillian would have called a pittance, but one man’s pennies were another man’s pounds. What it really was was a dream. It was that possibility that allowed Lena to escape into the ‘what if’ on the days that her mother’s snide remarks and controlling nature were too much. It was Lena’s promise to herself that this life wasn’t hers forever, and that was enough. It also gave her stolen moments like this, though generally on campus, to do something about which her mother didn’t know and wouldn’t approve. It was a chance to breathe and hope. Tonight it would be a night on the town in Metropolis, and that wasn’t too shabby either.

Dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a band hoodie from a concert to which Lex had taken her, Lena smiled into the night air and the neon glow of Metropolis. Her hair was back in a high ponytail as she walked down the street, just another anonymous face on the city street. Her first stop was a street vendor where she purchased a Metropolis University hat. That was about as touristy a move as she could imagine, and it made her smile grow. From there she hit a local pizza place ‘<Man’s First Name> Pizza’ which she was certain would make Lillian sneer with utter contempt. She ordered a slice and a Coke, her good mood growing with each moment.

Lena fumbled in her pockets to check the time on her phone before remembering it wasn’t with her (they’re called habits for a reason), and looked at the TV on the wall. The Metropolis Mets were playing a game versus the National City Nationals. She took a moment to wonder at the lack of marketing involved in those names, ignored the score, and checked the time as the last of her beverage rattled around loudly in her straw. Sighing contentedly, Lena cleaned up her table and headed back to the street.

With no destination in mind, she walked three blocks with the traffic before a taxi pulled to a stop just before her letting out a young couple who unloaded and paid. Continuing her impromptu evening, Lena walked up, smiled at them, and placed her hand on the door of the cab, entering.

“Good evening,” she said as she slid into the back of the cab.

The cabbie did a double-take. “Evening. Where to?”

“Um… the movies?”

“Yous sure about that?”

“Yes, quite certain,” she replied with a smile. “I’d like to take in a movie this evening. Please take me to the cinema.”

“Cinema,” he snorted. “Pip pip, right?”

Lena blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Which theater, kid? What’s the address?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Any theater is fine. Just,” she waved her hand aimlessly, “drive.”

The cabbie twisted a bit more in his seat. “Does yous have cash?”

A deep from creased her young face at the absurdity of the question. “Why would I get into a cab, or ask to be taken to a movie, if I couldn’t pay?”

That received a smile in return. “Yous a good kid, aren’t ya?”

“Well, I try to be.” Lena squirmed a bit under the man’s heavy gaze that felt a bit like an inspection. She was used to those from her mother, and they were usually accompanied by scalding remarks about her many failings. “Am I going to see my movie?”

“Sure thing.” He flipped up the meter and pulled out into the flow of cars, expertly weaving his way through traffic as they headed downtown. “There’s a ‘cinema’ not too far. Yous ain’t local, are ya?”

“Actually, I am. I live in Metropolis.”

Under his heavy brow, the man once inspected Lena though this time in the mirror. “Which part?”

“Tribeca.”

“Oh-ho-ho! Does we have a celebrity in our midsts?”

“No, I’m just…” Lena pulled her baseball cap a bit further down over her eyes and slouched in her seat, mumbling. Freedom could be fleeting if she were recognized and the paparazzi became aware. Billionaires, and that’s what Lena was even if just by association, were uncommon enough that they held some sort of intrinsic celebrity status. Lex’s vocal and playboy lifestyle kept him in the limelight, and a picture of the least known Luthor was surely valuable. “I’m adopted.”

“Eh, relax kid. No autographs. I get it. Yous knows, I once had Jon Stewart in my cab.”

“Who?”

“The Daily Show?” When Lena merely frowned again, the man sniffed and returned to an earlier topic. “Yous sure you wouldn’t rather take in a show on Broadway? Wicked is still playing.”

“Yes, it was marvelous,” Lena replied with a smile. “I’ve seen it twice now.”

“Huh. What about The Lion King?”

Lena held up three fingers. “Three times. Quite stunning. The way the animals moved was just breathtaking, don’t you think?”

“Uh… What about Shrek?”

“My brother’s company has… ahem. I’ve taken in many shows. I don’t often go to the movies in a cinema with other people. I thought it would be interesting.”

“Then let’s get yous to ya cinema,” the cabbie replied with a kindly smile.

It was several minutes, horn honks, and yelled obscenities before they arrived at a movie theater about a mile and a half away. Lena paid her fare, plus a healthy tip which received sincere gratitude, and disembarked. She picked whatever movie was playing next with no regard for choices. She was here for the atmosphere, for the novelty of sticky floors and popcorn that came in a container larger than her head, not the actual show. It was a brief, twenty-minute wait for the show which gave her plenty of time to use the restroom and buy a hat-sized tub of popcorn and a Coke that wasn’t much smaller. With the sugar and caffeine combination, it seemed unlikely she’d be sleeping that evening, but that just meant a second movie might be on the agenda.

Lena was halfway through some nonsensical spy-love-story thing when one of the explosions rocked the theater with a level of realism as of yet unseen. Dust drifted down from the ceiling, and Lena joined the rest of the patrons in a confused lemming-like filing toward the glowing exit sign. Outside, they discovered the chaos that had been Metropolis. Cars were crashed together in disjointed masses that blocked off passage through the streets. Water geysered into the night from broken fire hydrants. Ruined buildings dotted the way as if tornados had set down to deliver God’s careful thumb of destruction. People ran haphazardly about or wandered aimlessly. Dogs howled and cats yowled. It looked like they had a front-row seat to World War III.

There were power outages everywhere, and though there may have been media reports outside of the city, for several days, people inside it were mostly clueless about what had caused the destruction. Cell towers were down, and even landlines were overloaded. Electrical was overworked, blown, and diverted to the hospitals that were also well above capacity. First responders tried to come in from out of state only to be turned away as the bridges were bloated with people unable to leave the city and more wrecked cars. It was a disaster, and the world’s heart went out to Metropolis and the lives lost.

In the city, everyday people became heroes by pulling together and digging trapped strangers out of the rubble. They may not have been able to get home. They may not have had a home to get to anymore for all they knew, but Metropolis was their home, and these people were their family. Schools set up makeshift shelters, and Lena found herself in one between her rescue missions of others and using her engineering knowledge to do repairs wherever she could. It was the worst of times bringing out the best in people, but as Lena would soon find out, it was the worst of times brought out by the worst in someone.

Lena was nearly four days into being trapped in her shelter in Metropolis without any working phones or email when the local news was up and running again. Though initially reason for celebration as it meant that the world was starting to return to normal and people would start getting information, people were shocked to find out that what many were calling a terrorist attack was an attack from someone in a flying suit on their own local hero, Superman. Less than twelve hours later, an ashen Lena Luthor stood against the back of the shelter, her hand over her mouth and her head shaking in denial, as the picture of local billionaire Lex Luthor was released as the man inside the flying suit. She barely made it to the bathroom before she started to vomit.

In her heart of hearts, Lena knew this was all a mistake. The Lex she knew was kind, gentle, and funny. Certainly, he and her mother had raised several concerns about aliens on this planet, but having concerns was different than a xenophobic rampage that killed hundreds of people at current count, injured God knew how many, and caused untold damage to Metropolis. Whoever did this would have to be insane, and insane was not a word that Lena would ever have used to describe her brother. Certainly, he might be passionate about certain subjects, driven about his work, and willing to go to great lengths to make a point, but he was no killer. Putting this all down to sensationalizing news outlets, Lena felt shakier but better as she laid down that night and struggled to fall asleep. Sleep eventually came filled with images of her mother’s cruel smile, bitter words, and a city burning.

That morning came with it an announcement that Lex Luthor would respond to the allegations that had been raised against him. He planned to appear live on the air at a local news station. Lena was still locked in at the other end of Metropolis, only some twenty miles away, but with no working transportation and who knew how much danger between them. She wished desperately she could at least call her brother and let him know she didn’t doubt him even if she couldn’t be there for him in person. Anyway, her version of bathing for the past few days had been baby wipes in the necessary places. She doubted he’d want her appearing on-air at his side.

The hint of a smile on her face, Lena stood with her arms crossed as she leaned against the wall, standing room only in the shelter for this interview. Lex sat across from two interviewers, and he looked as dapper as ever. His suit was a dark pinstripe with a red tie and matching handkerchief. He was obviously worn down to anyone who knew him, dark rings under his eyes which stared glassily. He clearly wasn’t untouched by the state of his beloved city and no-doubt the wild accusations. He didn’t fidget as he sat with his hands in his lap while the hosts spoke, looking up slowly as they addressed him.

_“Yes, of course,”_ Lex replied when they thanked him for joining them.

_“Now, Mr. Luthor, some rather troubling allegations have been raised against you,”_ one host said. _“There is video footage of a man in a green suit flying across the sky, fighting with Superman, and causing rampant destruction across Metropolis. Sources close to Luthor Corp have said the suit is your design, and you were the one flying it. They’re saying that you attacked Superman and were responsible for the deaths and the damage to the city. Is that right?”_

_“That’s right,”_ Lex replied.

The hosts glanced at each other, both obviously taken off guard by that response, and then one said_, “You mean it’s correct that someone has said that about you, but how would you like to respond to—”_

_“No, I mean I’m guilty,”_ Lex said. _“I did it.”_

As a murmur ran through the people watching in the shelter, Lena pushed off the wall. Lex’s words echoed in her ears, a cacophony of horrors that drown out all other voices. Her arms hung heavy by her side and her mouth swung open as the truth of her brother's actions seeped through her skin and settled, painfully, deep in her bones.

_“I’m… I’m sorry, Mr. Luthor, but are you confessing to trying to kill Superman and to killing hundreds of people in Metropolis?”_ the host asked.

_“That’s right,”_ Lex replied, his voice still calm.

“No,” Lena whispered, shaking her head even as her entire body began to tremble. “No.”

_“But…”_ The host looked around, shrugging at someone off-screen, someone who obviously saw the merit in the ratings this would bring them, and then nodding. He straightened his tie, professionalism well in place, and faced Lex once again. _“Mr. Luthor, would you like to explain your actions in your attack against Superman?”_

_“Of course,”_ Lex said. _“He’s an alien. I was trying to protect this planet, our planet, the planet of all humans against alien invasion.”_

_“Are you saying you were defending yourself, Mr. Luthor? Are you saying that Superman attacked you first?”_

“Please, Lex,” Lena whispered, “please say something sane. Please, explain this.”

_“I suppose you could say that I believe that Superman’s very presence is an attack on all humans if that’s what you mean.”_

_“Then he didn’t physically attack you, is that correct, Mr. Luthor?”_

Lex sighed, rubbing his head with one hand before returning it to his lap. _“That’s correct.”_

_“Mr. Luthor,”_ the other host said, _“sitting here today you seem contrite. Are you regretful of your actions?”_

_“Entirely.”_

_“What changed?”_

_“Someone died.”_

_“Mr. Luthor, a lot of people died.”_

_“You don’t think I know that?”_ Lex leaned forward slightly, his gaze finally focusing before he tore it away. _“They released the list of the dead, and I read it. Her name was on it.”_

_“Oh, someone you knew died.”_

_“Someone I,”_ Lex swallowed slow and hard, a painful looking bob in his throat, _“love.”_

_“And that never occurred to you when you caused this level of damage in the city, that you could kill someone you loved? Many people lost people they loved.” _one of the hosts said, his professionalism wavering as a touch of venom leaked in.

However, Lex seemed immune, or perhaps unaware, of the anger that was radiating in his direction and only murmured something in response, shrugging.

_“What was that?”_ the other host asked.

Lex took a breath, pulling his shoulders back as he faced the camera and the truth head-on. _“She wasn’t supposed to be here.”_

Lena had curled in on herself, tears running unbidden down her face and her shoulders shaking, but at those words from Lex, she looked up.

_“Who was she?”_

Lex’s mouth moved for a moment without words coming out, and then he managed,_ “My baby sister, Lena.”_

“Oh God, Lex, no,” Lena uttered in hushed tones.

_“You killed your own sister,”_ the host whose temper was beginning to show said. _ “I’m sure you’ve killed a lot of people’s sisters.”_

Lex just nodded.

_“Is that when you knew she was in town, Mr. Luthor?”_ the other host asked in an attempt to keep them on track with this monumental interview (or perhaps to stall for the police). _“Did you find out your sister was in town when you saw her name on that list?”_

_“No, I went to call her that night after… afterward. She goes to school at MIT, but she’s a night owl. I knew she’d be up so… I went to call her, and that’s when I saw the text saying she was in Metropolis and the other texts and the missed calls.”_

_“She called and texted you from the city?”_

_“She came into town a day early to surprise me and texted, asking to see me. I have voicemails from my baby sister wondering why I wasn’t calling her back, and all the while—” _ Suddenly something awful broke over Lex’s face, the placid exterior gone as the first tear rolled down his cheek, and he shattered from the inside out. He began to shake, going from a mountain of strength to avalanche in a moment. _“My little sister was locked supposedly safely inside a hotel room. She was supposed to be protected by security some sixty stories in the air, stories that I brought crashing down on her head. I’m sure she died terrified, alone, and clueless that the one person she trusted in this world was the one who had murdered her.”_

_“Mr. Luthor—”_

_“Oh, Lena, I’m so sorry. I did everything I did for you, to make a better world for you. I love you with all my heart, and I just wanted you to be safe. I never would have knowingly let anyone hurt a hair on your head, and to know I’m the one who… who…” _Tears streamed from Lex’s eyes, dripping off his chin onto his suit like a waterfall. _“Even just hearing your voice was the best part of my every day. I can’t live with myself knowing what I did to you. I’ll see you soon, Ace.” _ Lex pulled his right hand from his lap, revealing the revolver he held there.

_“Look out, he has a gun!”_

“No!” Lena screamed from the shelter.

The gun in his mouth, Lex pulled the trigger, and the bang seemed to echo forever. Lex’s body slumped forward across the table revealing the gaping, bloody hole where the back of his head once had been. Reporters scurried for traction, backing away at breakneck speeds as someone in the background demanded they ‘go to commercial or something’. The station's logo was aired for a good thirty seconds while people tried to get their shit together before a commercial finally found its way to the viewership.

Lena wasn’t the only person who fell to the floor, but she was likely the longest there. Her shock was near-catatonic, so it was difficult to say. Seeing your brother kill himself because he thinks he killed you will do that. When she was finally able to push herself upright on trembling legs, it was only to find the nearest trash can and puke for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. Lex Luthor was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead upon arrival. There would be no trial, no legal posturing or debate, just the death count for the day raised by one.

When asked to comment, a battered, dirty, and exhausted Superman, who had been helping with recovery efforts but was stopping to drink some water, stood on legs that looked ready to buckle and shook his head as tears tracked grooves in the grime on his cheeks. _ “We were friends once. I don’t know what happened. We were friends once.”_ He sniffed, wiping his nose with the back of his hand and further smearing grime across his face. _“I met Lena a few times. She was the nicest girl, so sweet and bright, the light of Lex’s life. Looking at it now, I can see why he… I can see his reaction when she… My condolences to Mrs. Luthor. Excuse me.”_ Turning, Superman took to the sky and ended the interview, obviously emotional.

From that point out, Lena’s face was plastered all over TV screens and newspapers alike. To all the world, Lena Luthor was the little sister martyred in the infamous battle between Lex Luthor and Superman. Lena Luthor was half the public reason that Lillian sequestered herself away and hid from the public eye after the L-Day event in Metropolis. However, Lena had no misconceptions that privately, she was to Lillian the reason that Lex was dead, the greatest of the adoptive daughter’s failings to date. Though Lex thought he had killed Lena, walking in the door alive would just have proven to Lillian that Lena had instead killed Lex. So after a short bit of soul searching, Lena took her remaining cash, withdrew more from her secret account as soon as she could get to an ATM that worked, and headed west. Lena Luthor was dead. Long live Tess Mercer. 


End file.
